WHAT:“Using humour, movement, song and the audience, Sara Juli reveals all that is awesome and all that sucks when it comes to being a mother. Tense Vagina is a show about the beauty, challenges, isolation and influence motherhood has on the human experience. Focusing on the taboo aspects of motherhood: loneliness, tears and dildos, the hilarious narrative is anchored in the physical therapy Juli received at the Pelvic Floor Rehab Center of New England for urinary incontinence.”

This is my first time at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and I honestly have no idea what to expect. I’m bringing my two kids, husband, my mother, 25 dildos, a host of weird props and 150 t-shirts that say, Sara Juli’s: Tense Vagina: an actual diagnosis. Please buy one, no really, please.

There has been a lot to navigate detail wise, but I’m thrilled to be bringing the show to the Fringe and to get the run going. 22 shows in 25 days is certainly a first for me. I’m curious to see how the show will shift and change over the course of a long-run. I also really enjoy making people laugh. This piece is hilarious, but not just funny hilarious, it’s the kind of hilarious where we’re getting at something underneath, and we’re experiencing it together. Plus, I give away free snacks, so audiences literally have nothing to lose…

Tell us about your show.

I created, “Tense Vagina: an actual diagnosis” a few years ago in my small NY City apartment, when I was attached to a hospital-grade breast pump and couldn’t move. The one- woman show, produced by Underbelly, uses a lot of humor, movement, song, and text to peel a layer back and reveal all that is awesome and all that sucks when it comes to being a mother.

It’s not a classical “ode-to-motherhood” show that pulls from traditional themes around the beauty of being a mother, but rather focuses on the parts of motherhood that are taboo such as: loss of bladder control, copious tears, extreme loneliness, monotony and dildos, to name a few.

The narrative is anchored in sharing the physical therapy I received at The Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation Center of New England. It sheds light on the embarrassment and humor from the treatment of my post-childbirth urinary incontinence. The show has a bit of something for everyone: song, stand-up comedy, free snacks, karaoke, dildos, and an uninterrupted hour to think about your own or someone else’s vagina. I have an 11 city US tour planned for the 2017-2018 season that I’m super excited about.

My dream after the Fringe is to continue to perform the work. I’m really proud of the piece.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?